Your Mail 2-22-14: Gadgets running amok

Gadgets running amok

This addresses a topic that apparently will not go away anytime soon: the all-pervasive issue of technological devices.

I will make one concession to these devices: They are an important and in many cases a necessary part of 21st century life. I don't necessarily like making that concession but I have had to.

I have several objections to this phenomenon. Almost all people under a certain age - probably 60 to 65 - feel they must have the latest technological gadget. If Person X sees Person Y with an updated version of his iPhone, iPad or whatever, Person X feels he or she has to "keep up with the Joneses" and go out and buy that same gadget.

Among other problems I see here is the potential expense, which mounts in a hurry.

News flash: Not everyone in the United States has a computer at home, not everyone has an iPhone, not everyone has an iPad. Also: Not everyone wants one.

I made it quite well for a major portion of my life without any technological devices. I learned how to type on an clunky portable typewriter in high school. It didn't even have letters on the keys. I learned to type fine just like that. I held out for a long time before buying a cellphone and the main reason I have one today is to be able to monitor the health of some elderly loved ones. Were it not for that, I would be content not to have a cellphone.

My biggest objection to all these devices is the obsession that high school students have with them. I am a high school teacher and we do our best to monitor the use of these devices, but it is a real battle.

High school kids seem to think if a certain class or subject material doesn't yield instant entertainment, then it really isn't worth the time and effort. Why? Technological toys.

Studying? That is fast becoming the only four-letter word in the dictionary that has more than four letters. It's much more fun to play on one's phone than it is to study. Reading? Forget it - it's almost a lost art. Real conversation in which all the participants are not pecking on some technological device is almost a lost art as well.

The Bible implies that an idol is anything that stands between an individual or a nation and God. I fear that in 21st century American culture, this obsession with technology has generally become a nationwide idol. Dare I say that, from all indications in scripture there won't be any need for technology in the next life. God doesn't need it to keep track of us. Jesus didn't need technology to die on the cross to save us from our sins, or to be resurrected.

Technological toys are here today and gone tomorrow. The word of the Lord endures forever.

Scott Nelson, Monroe

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